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2011-10-12 - Thy Knight, M'Lady
"I appreciate the help." Jane says to her boyfriend. The weather's taken a turn for the warmer. Jane's family has decided to take advantage of the situation and plant the winter garlic a little early. "Mom and dad are working on preparing food for winter storage, so it is up to me to plant all the garlic." And there's a lot of it. Three hundred square feet, done in three by three inch square plots. Of course Jane's boyfriend is also Jane's girlfriend. Sam smiles a little and shrugs his/her shoulders. "S'okay. It's a chance to spend time together. And I never mind using my hands for something useful." Sam isn't one to mind dirt. No way. And spending time with Jane at her family's homestead means no one cares that s/he wears guy clothes and stays comfortably in Sam's identity. Double bonus, there, for Sam. Time with the girlfriend is the top of the chart, though. "So long as I don't have to eat all of it." S/he teases. "This is elephant garlic. Not as acidic and smelly as the stuff you get at the supermarket." Jane explains. Garlic is a bulb plant, so it isn't planted from seed. Instead, the garlic is chopped into pieces and buried. "You know, someday we can have this place. You'll need to learn a lot about this sort of thing." Jane teases. Sam 'ohs' about the elephant garlic, having obviously been quite clueless about the difference before Jane took the time to educate him/her. Still planting, pushing down the cloves of garlic with his/her thumb, Sam blushes quite predictably when Jane teases him/her about 'inheriting' the farm. S/he stumbles a bit, verbally, before pulling out, "You know as long as I'm around I'll happily help out here, and learn what I can." They promised to take this slow, to not make assumptions about 'for all time' and such. But it's hard. Jane is the Avatar of Love, for pity's sake. And Sam? Sam's inner Knight /knows/ what committment means, and craves it. Jane leans forward and brushes her lips over Sam's cheek. "I know." She says, sweetly. "You have no idea how much I love that you think I'm beautiful as just me." Heart Girl is gorgeous, of course, but Jane likes to feel pretty, too. Sam glows a bit - not literally, mind you - when Jane brushes that kiss over his/her cheek. S/he just lights up from inside, and offers Jane a winning smile. "You are amazing in many ways, Jane. Your beauty is just one of them." As special as Jane feels that Sam accepts her for being pretty in herself, so too Sam loves being accepted and embraced as /boyfriend/ when not in Man-at-Arms' form. Acceptance is the core of their love for each other. "Your parents can this, or something, and sell a lot of it, right?" s/he queries. Learning all those things, one little bit at a time. "Right." Jane explains. "We're part of a cooperative. People pay to join the cooperative and then once a month they get a delivery of a crate of various farm goods. The farms that contribute split the profits. Pretty simple." She taps the dirt down with her trowel. "Of course, we keep quite a bit for ourselves." Sam nods, taking this in and processing it. S/he's never been a part of anything like that, but all told it's a simple enough arrangement that it makes sense. "So, the profits are whatever's left of that month's cooperative fees from the folks who get the goods, less the cost of transport and delivery?" Sam inquires, asking not so much because s/he needs to know as because asking keeps the mind engaged, proof that s/he is paying attention and cares about the answers. Jane sits back. She's got smudges of dirt on her cheek. "Exactly. The cooperative doesn't pay for anything used in the farming itself. At this point, we don't need to buy much for ourselves. We either buy, recycle, or grow it here. Newer farmers might need to buy seeds or dirt or mulch." She mmms. "So, I ran into your friend the gunman. Avoided a fight. I convinced him he couldn't keep my bracers even if I gave them to him. Predictably - adorably? - Sam tenses up when Jane switches topics of conversation and brings up the mysterious magical gunman who assaulted Man-at-Arms. Naturally, he warned his girlfriend promptly about this dangerous kook - as soon as he had managed to get the innocent to the hospital. But Sam relaxes a bit later, as Jane clearly was able to handle the situation better than Man-at-Arms had been. "Well, thank goodness for small favors. That guy is a menace! And a jerk." Harsh words, honestly, coming from the usually infallibly polite Sam. Though Sam is not quite as infallible or as polite as Manny. "I'm just glad you're OK." S/he turns to look at Jane, smiling, and reaches out with the heel of his/her hand to brush a bit of the dirt from her cheek. Jane closes her eyes, leaning against the hand touching her cheek. "Mmm." She says. "Well, I talked to him. I told him he'd be watched. That if he crossed a line... things would have to be done. I felt horrible but I he's fanatical. Cool. Calm. Collected but with the sort of 'my mission is right' mentality that leads to suicide bombers. I hope I've cracked that armor a little but I don't know." Sam's heart is in his/her eyes, gazing at Jane. This is why s/he loves Jane so much, that Jane is as worried for this character as she is for the innocents he puts at risk. That makes her an even better hero than someone like Superboy. "We can hope. I understand he believes he is doing the right thing. But I worry he is going about it the wrong way. Innocent people were hurt the other night. And he didn't care." Clearly, that sickens Sam. "You know, I wondered something." What? Well, given Sam a moment. S/he'll get to it. "I saw something at Young Justice HQ. They invited Heart Girl to join them. I was going to ask about inviting you, until I saw that." The question, unspoken, is probably why she didn't join. She has to have reasons, Sam is sure of that. Maybe Sam just wants to know what those are? Jane nods. "Just a moment." She draws away from Sam and presses her bracers together. A pink wind swirls around her and she is lifted off the ground. Slowly, she spins as the wind ruffles through her hair. Sparkles explode like fireworks of pink and red and white. When she sets down on the ground once more, she's Heart Girl. "I thought I should be in the right form to answer the question." She leans forward and kisses Sam gently on the lips. Emotions. Calm and joy and happiness flow off of her. Sam watches with reverent awe as her girlfriend transforms for the first time in front of her, becoming Heart Girl. "Wow." S/he breathes. Then comes the kiss, and Sam almost swoons. Heart Girl's presence is .. a lot, for a 'mere mortal' like Sam. But s/he doesn't seem to mind. "OK." she breathes, when Heart Girl explains why she's here instead of Jane. "I suppose ..." s/he murmurs, standing up from the dirt. Sam reaches down through the crew collar of his/her t-shirt, pulling out a deep blue jewel-like stone amulet. As s/he touches it, there is a pulse of blue-white light that flares out from the stone to surround Sam. Being empathic, Heart Girl can get a real sense of the purpose of that power, summoning Sam's inner ideal of 'hero' and making it - him - reality. The blue-white light fades, leaving behind Man-at-Arms in his armored glory. He smiles to Heart Girl and takes a knee before her, gracefully. ""One supposes that if you should be here to answer, M'Lady, I shouldst be here to hear that answer." Even in the midst of the garlic patch. Oh! To say Heart Girl is a sucker for romance is putting it mildly. She brings Man-at-Arm's armored hand up to her cheek and touches it briefly. "Mmmm." She says, with delight. She can also appreciate that her boyfriend is a HUNK in this form. Even Heart Girl can be a little shallow. "Superboy asked me, yes. Right after I had to stop him from pummeling a junkie when just restraining him would work well. The idea of a team dedicated to violence disturbs me, so I declined. This was before I knew you." And Man-at-Arms is quite the romantic figure. He is also anything but immune to his girlfriend's beauty. He listens as Heart Girl explains about her encounter with Superboy, and hmms softly, nodding as he comes to understand the whole of the situation. "Yes. I admit, Superboy's approach can often be summed up as 'pound it until it stops.' But he is not the sum total of the team, nor even the prevalent attitude." Not in Man-at-Arms' experience, anyway. "Panacea is a member, and she is certainly not that way. While Eym can be a bit confounding and sometimes abrupt, he - or it, I suppose, though that never seems 'right' to me - also understands that violence is not always the answer. Then, too, there is the truth that the more of those on the team who accept that wisdom, the better the team will be, and a stronger influence on those who have not yet embraced that wisdom." No, Manny would never tell Heart that she /ought/ to join. That's just not his way. But he will point out the potential for good in the choice, and leave it to her decision. As her Knight, he will respect her decision whatever her choice. Heart Girl listens to her love's words. She listens intently, her eyes watching his. Her attention focused entirely on what he is saying and the emotions that flow behind them. "... and you wouldn't mind having your girlfriend on the team?" She asks a bit slyly when Man-at-Arms finishes. The handsome young knight blushes just a bit at Heart Girl's insightful and sweet, sly little question. But he would never lie, as she well knows. "'Tis true, My Lady. I would be most pleased and honored to have thee amongst the ranks of Young Justice." His case has been made, right? Still, there is one moer thing he wants to show Heart Girl, and it would seem now could be the perfect time. He holds out his left hand, and a flare of that blue-white light erupts, fading away to reveal his gleaming lance, almost nine feet in length. From its tip flutters a pennon that has not been there before: a triangle of pink fabric, upon which resides a white-outlined red Valentine. He lowers the lance so that it rests across both of his gauntleted palms, and offers it up to Heart Girl with a smile. "I did wish you to see this." he admits. It is a clear declaration, for it labels him her knight, as if in service to her call. Heart Girl's mind races. Images of previous avatars memories float through her mind. Courtly love. Declarations of love. Often done in pursuit of politics but occasionally, as now, done in the name of love. Heart Girl literally glows. Pink light suffuses her and wraps around her form. "Oooh. Oh, Sam." Tears well in her eyes. "I... thank you." Man-at-Arms doesn't even blink at being addressed as Sam. Not that any other figure on the planet would know to apply that name to him. But Heart Girl does, and that's all it takes. He smiles winningly and stands, gracefully stepping forward a half-step to slide one arm around Heart Girl and embrace her, the other lifting the lance upright and holding it steady, out of the way. "You are welcome, Jane. I am glad that this pleases you." "As for Young Justice." For now, Heart Girl leans against Man-at-Arms and enjoys that closeness. Even if she is leaning against metal armor. "I... suppose I could hang out with you guys. See if my mission could dovetail with the mission of the team." Man-at-Arms at least does seem to have mastered the art of holding Heart Girl, with closeness, without pinching or squishing with that metal armor of his. But admittedly, the embrace would be so much better if he weren't armored. Maybe she'll have to encourage him to work on that? If he can banish his weapons, surely be could do the same with his armor? "I would like that, very much. And I believe the two can be compatible - to help others in need." Though admittedly, Man-at-Arms is probably the only other Young Justice member who would go to New Zealand with her to help her arrange an engagement between two guys. The team likely has their limits. Very likely. On the other hand, you never know. "I would ask the team. Be sure they're alright with me hanging around. After that... well, you can show me the secret club house." Heart Girl giggles and steps back. There's a rush of pink wind and she once more becomes Jane. Plain old Jane. "Come on. We can go cook dinner for my parents. They love you, you know." Man-at-Arms gently releases Heart Girl when she is ready, stepping back to admire her, and Jane when Jane appears. "Of course. I will ask them." And he will, being a knight of his word. But his tone makes no secret of the fact he cannot fathm them saying no. When Jane proves ready to go, Man-at-Arms reaches up to touch his breastplate, calling forth that flare of blue-white energy again. When it fades, Sam is there reaching out to take Jane's hand, blushing. "Well, I like them too. They're very cool." Hippies, unlike his/her Mom. But quite cool.